Sculpin project No.1

[Sculpin]

Well I new it wasn't going to be pretty as I peeked under the floor boards before a purchased her. I ripped them all out to see what was under there. Here's a couple of photo's after a basic shop vac (so it was worse).



You can see the "RV" style furnace in this shot. I ripped it out as it was all galvanized and corroding although it was never used. I will replace it this fall with a Wabasto diesel unit or what have you.



You can see the TR-1 Gladiator Auto Pilot in this one



So I got some acid solution for cleaning aluminum hulls and did a couple of washes with scrub brushes and small stainless tooth brush and it's looking better.




The exhaust for the propane furnace was in the not so great of places. It had an aluminum splash guard for deck water but was totally open on top to rain water :shock: . This next photo shows it already half cut out.



We ground down the remainder of the splash guard and put a patch plate in to seal up the hole.



Here's an employee / friend of mine Tim grinding it down.



Here is the almost finished repair.



I'll post more photos of repairs and mod's as the days go on.

[Bob5292]

Great thread. I really like seeing all of these details. You cant get this stuff anywhere else!!

[JETTYWOLF]

I can see, if you are able and willing. That this will be fun to watch.

I love seeing "restore" photo sequences. It's more interesting than seeing pics of boats that are perfect and new.

Thanks!

[Sculpin]

I can see, if you are able and willing. That this will be fun to watch.

I love seeing "restore" photo sequences. It's more interesting than seeing pics of boats that are perfect and new.

Thanks!

Oh there will be more........there will be more...........as this boat is far from perfect (even when new). I am trying to get as much done as possible this week so I can get her out fishing.

[IN2DEEP]

Thanks for posting the pictures and description of your work in progress.
That acid wash cleans the surface up real nice!
Wouldn't the furnace exhaust on deck pose a danger to carbon monoxide poisoning?
Looking forward to more pics.

Scott

[JETTYWOLF]

Yeah, that acid wash sure made her look good again.....momma always said cleanliness is next to godliness. Messy boats, well they just don't fish right in my book.

what was the acid wash stuff called? Just an off the shelf item?

[Ironwoodtuna]

The Rock,

You may also want to consider applying the peel and stick sound deadening material to you below water line areas that you can gain access to like I have in my Ironwood. It makes a huge difference in the sound quality of your ride.

[S L Dave]

What is that material Marty?

[Sculpin]

Yeah, that acid wash sure made her look good again.....momma always said cleanliness is next to godliness. Messy boats, well they just don't fish right in my book.

what was the acid wash stuff called? Just an off the shelf item?

CRC aluminum hull cleaner off the shelf.

[Sculpin]

That sound deadening stuff looks real interesting. Do you have a brand name or manufacturer name for that stuff? How does it hold up if it gets wet? That stuff might do the trick for the under seat and floor area's as the boat has "0" insulation or foam in her.

[Ironwoodtuna]

That sound deadening stuff looks real interesting. Do you have a brand name or manufacturer name for that stuff? How does it hold up if it gets wet? That stuff might do the trick for the under seat and floor area's as the boat has "0" insulation or foam in her.

Hey ROCK,

The peel & stick aluminum/rubber sound deadening material gets wet in my engine compartment and in my anchor hold and seem to be fine after three full seasons of hard serious fishing. I think that if you used it in your below waterline holds and then coated the deck and cockpit with the HERCULINER material from J.C. Whitney it will make a huge difference for you. I would PM John from Ironwood on the peel & stick stuff. Marty

[Sculpin]

Here a few photos of our work this evening. My friend Chris gave me a hand as he used to lay floors for a living and has done some sundecks etc. We like to do as much as possible ourselves. Using 3/4" Marine grade plywood with marine vinyl flooring glued and stapled to it.





We used a laminate trimmer to router the sharp edges of the plywood before putting on the marine vinyl.



I've got them "curing" in a warm room for the night. I will leave them for a couple of days before installing them. The photos show the rear floor panel of the cabin with a cut out for an access panel to the new bilge pump I'm installing in the cabin (as there wasn't one in there:shock: ).

[JETTYWOLF]

I would wonder if the wood would last even longer, and be more durable if it was as a buddy did in his commercial NON ALLOY boat with panels like that...

He took resin mixed with a thinner, and made it real watery. And rolled it on the wood, and let it soak in real good, then kept applying coat after coat. And a little more resin each coat or two.

When you looked on the edge of the wood, you could see that the plywood was soaking the mixture up like a sponge. I helped him and was amazed at how well this all worked. He had me rolling the edges except for one side so he could show me how it sucks up this mixture he made.

By the end of it, the mixture of resin was a little higher than the thinner, and he said the entire panel would then be saturated. Then, after all that was done he applied resin and matts of NON ALLOY and had a floor panel that would last 10 years on a wet all the time giant Ice/Fish box, on his run hard longline boat.

I'm sure it was much more scientific than I make it sound. I only helped one day. And the panel took several days to be done right before complete.

I'd think fiberglassed/resined floor panels would last and last, versus the bare wood (even marine ply) and vinyl with glue and staples.

A bit trickier when measuring to have it fit into the floor though...expansion of the wood, and thinkness of the f'glass mat, so some exact measurements would need to be taken into account to have it fit perfect.

Just a thought. Kinda too late now.

I even wonder it after doing the resin "impregnation" into the wood, then a good scuffing/sanding the surface if a textured anti-skid paint could be applied, to the top side, for good traction.

Man, I sure know how to lean on the preverbial shovel, and watch someone else work, huh???? :roll:

Oh and that insulation deal on the inside of the boat areas?

Thickly applied "sprayed in truck bed liner" will sound deaden the hull too, and seal all the little crevases for easy cleaning, if needed later. I had my old NON ALLOY boat completely sprayed inside on the floor and up the sides a bit and it took a noisey "Cap over hull boat" and made it super quiet.

Maybe not as quiet as that sticky backed insulation. But then again, Marty's boat is an inboard, and yours is an outboard. And there has to be a difference right there when it comes to noise and vibration.

There I go again....... :roll:

[Sculpin]

I knew I was going to get a comment about not putting resin on the plywood :? . The old 5/8" thick non-marine plywood boards were in there for 4 -5 years with no sign of rot etc with just paint on the top sides. We thought about it afterwards and I guess it's the price you pay for rushing. I'm comfortable with it and only time will tell. Thanks for the comments Jettywolf. I think I will run some stuff by you guys first so I have more food for thought.

[JETTYWOLF]

Like I said..."I'm a great shovel leaner".

Not that what you did doesn't work. Hell alot of boats come with the panels that way, from a manufacture.

I'm just a redundancy kinda guy. (and I'm not even retired US Navy!) Can ya imagine that? :roll:

[Ironwood Boats]

Plywood with paint on it takes 1/2 an hour to dry. Plywood wrapped in vinyl takes days to dry. Epoxy or NON ALLOY resin is good stuff. Even try some wood stain. If you can keep the space under the deck vented this will help.

Stainless Steel staples???

Keep the water from getting into the plywood from above. Patch any holes as soon as they appear and when you screw down the plywood use some 5200 around the screw holes.

On a side comment be careful with pressure treated woods around aluminum. Many of the chemicals used in pressure treating wood these days will cause electrolysis in aluminum.

As well never use rubber on aluminum only neoprene.

[Sculpin]

Plywood with paint on it takes 1/2 an hour to dry. Plywood wrapped in vinyl takes days to dry. Epoxy or NON ALLOY resin is good stuff. Even try some wood stain. If you can keep the space under the deck vented this will help.

Stainless Steel staples???

Keep the water from getting into the plywood from above. Patch any holes as soon as they appear and when you screw down the plywood use some 5200 around the screw holes.

On a side comment be careful with pressure treated woods around aluminum. Many of the chemicals used in pressure treating wood these days will cause electrolysis in aluminum.

As well never use rubber on aluminum only neoprene.

Thanks for the insight. I didn't even think about the staples. I think I'll lay some 2" wide neoprene gasket material around the frame work before putting the boards down. I really wish I sealed the plywood with epoxy now. I'm going to use Tef- Gel on the fasteners as I am drilling and tapping the framework for 10-32 machine screws.

[Ironwood Boats]

I would try 10-24 machine screws. The thread depth on 10-32 may not be enough.

[Sculpin]

I would try 10-24 machine screws. The thread depth on 10-32 may not be enough.

Good call. I have a box of them kicking around as well. Just have to dig up a couple of (always seem to break one) taps.

[welder]

SS is good but next time try some , Monel staples. but don't let then touch the aluminum.

[JETTYWOLF]

see, I'm not the only "shovel leaner" thank goodness :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Sculpin]

Well with a week or so of wax on wax off here we go again. I'm to the point of good enough for now on the under the floor board thing. I took some pics of the neoprene gasket material and new floor boards going in.



This one you can see some more of the waxing difference. Looking better IMO.


The new floor boards actually fit :shock: .



You can see the cabin bilge pump access panel in this shot.



Looking to stern



Drivers side floor board installed. That's the seat that should be in my living room instead of this boat.



Port side seat mount ready to go.

[IN2DEEP]

Looking good "The Rock"

They are right about the staples. Get a box of monel staples and double them up around the other staples. Eventually they will disintegrate into rust. :?